Duane Allman’s reputation as a founding member of The Allman
Brothers Band is well known. Less documented is the work he did
as a sideman. Duane’s work as a studio musician
began prior to the formation of The Allman Brothers Band and
continued until his death in October 1971. After honing his
guitar skills in a variety of bands around Florida as a teenager
in the early ‘60s, touring with the Allman Joys in the
southeastern Chitlin’ circuit and recording two albums with
Hour Glass in Los Angeles, Duane found himself without a band by late
1968. Barely missing a beat, he moved into a cabin on a secluded lake in rural
Alabama, and that’s where he would truly begin to make his mark
on music. Here, of all places, Duane would be “discovered” and
establish connections which would sustain him
throughout his short but illustrious career.

Duane Allman was no stranger to the inside of a recording studio
when he showed up in Muscle Shoals, Ala., to work on his first
studio session. At this session for Rick
Hall’s Florence Alabama Musical Enterprises [FAME] studios,
Duane and Wilson Pickett worked up a version of “Hey Jude” that
would soon reach the top of the charts in spite of the fact that
the Beatles had just taken
it there a few months before. Although hesitant at first,
Pickett was able to take a song he couldn’t relate to
personally and turn it into a soul anthem. By the end of the session, Pickett was
screaming over Duane’s wailing lead guitar while the other
musicians stood in disbelief.

Moments later in New York, Atlantic Records VP Jerry Wexler
received a call from an excited production staff. “We played it over the phone to Jerry right after we
cut it,” said guitarist Jimmy Johnson. “We were all pretty much
wiped out with what he did on that vamp at the end of the tune. Wexler was totally blown away and wanted to know right away, “Who was that?” He immediately picked up the phone and called
Phil Walden, who had been looking for an act to manage since
Otis Redding had passed. It wasn’t long before Wexler arrived in Muscle
Shoals to buy Duane’s contract from Hall. From that point on,
things moved rather quickly for Duane. Even though the
second rhythm section, referred to as the FAME Gang, would endure a
few more months at FAME before they would strike out on their
own (the first group left for greener pastures a couple years
earlier), the Hey Jude album would be the last big
commercial success for FAME studios with Johnson, Barry
Beckett, Roger Hawkins, and David Hood providing the rhythmic
backdrop.

Actually, Duane had recorded at FAME prior to working
there as a session player. Duane, brother Gregg, and the rest of their
band Hour Glass had recorded some demos there in April ‘68,
in order to capture live in the studio, away from the band’s
controlling record producers, a sound truer to what they were
already doing in their gigs. The band subsequently took
the tapes back to Liberty Records in California where the demos
were labeled “useless” and the group disbanded after playing a
short tour of the South. Hour Glass had already recorded two
albums since the summer of ‘67 at Liberty Sound Studios in Los
Angeles, but the material on the albums did not at all reflect
what the band was about. The band’s attempt to reinvent itself
was a failure. Fortunately, however, Rick Hall and the FAME
Gang were impressed by the demos, and Duane was eventually asked
to work on a session, which quickly led to steady employment at
FAME.

Prior to recording Hour Glass
and Power of Love, Duane and Gregg had recorded as The
Allman Joys for John D. Loudermilk in the summer of ‘66, and the
single “Spoonful”/”You Deserve Each Other” was released on Dial
Records that September. Loudermilk subsequently introduced the
brothers to producer Buddy Killen and another session was
recorded at Bradley’s Barn, a recording studio in Nashville. These ‘66 sessions were not released until 1973 on the album
Early Allman by The Allman Joys. As a live act, The Allman
Joys had played in small clubs throughout the South and Midwest
with a repertoire consisting of hits by British bands such as
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Yardbirds. They would
play Motown and other R&B hits as well. In their early days,
the band even backed a teenage girl group called The Sandpipers,
out of Pensacola. The Allman Joys urged the girls to follow
them to New York where The Sandpipers landed a recording
contract with Trude Heller and released a few singles with
moderate success on Tru-Glo-Town records. The Allman Joys,
however, were not chosen by Heller to be the studio backing band
and the two groups parted ways. A bootleg recording of The
Allman Joys backing The Sandpipers does exist as a testimony to
this union and includes the song “Remember (Walking in the
Sand).”

Personnel changes within The Allman Joys brought in Johnny
Sandlin, Paul Hornsby, and Mabron McKinney from The Men-its (aka
The Five Minutes), an Alabama group with whom they had shared
the stage on several occasions. Eventually changing their name
to The Allman-act, the band soon relocated to L.A., persuaded to
do so by their soon to be manager Bill McEuen, brother of John
McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. There, the name was
changed, once again, to Hour Glass at the request of Liberty
Records. The addition of these new members added just the right
chemistry to the band, and McEuen was sure they could make it
big on the West Coast. Hour Glass soon settled in Hollywood,
Calif., signing with Liberty
Records. Their
creativity was stifled, however, by the record producers who
made the band choose the songs for their albums “out of a box”
and ignored Gregg’s original compositions almost completely. They were made to dress in psychedelic outfits complete
with lace and frills and were forced to keep their live
performances to a minimum for fear of overexposure. For the
self-titled debut album, Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack assisted the
band in the studio and even laid down some bass tracks to help
out a nervous McKinney (before he was replaced by Pete Carr). Hour Glass were allowed a little more autonomy on their second
album, but by then they were bored and
disillusioned with the West Coast, especially
Liberty.

In retrospect, Hour Glass had been a perfect vehicle for Duane
and Gregg in their quest to define a sound. Since the early
days of The Allman Joys, the brothers had begun to develop their
own voice, mainly through their performances. Displaced
from the South, California may have been the perfect place for
the group members to truly discover their own identities, both musical
and personal. John McEuen recalled
Hour Glass as an opening act at various venues around L.A. in his
forthcoming autobiography. “The Allmans opened with “Norwegian
Wood” as an instrumental, then closed with “Buckaroo” (the Buck
Owens theme), with Duane throwing his guitar as high as he could
at the end and letting it bounce around on impact. Then he’d
pick it up and finish the tune, the stage would rotate, and we’d
start our first song.” In fact, Hour Glass often shared a stage
with The Buffalo Springfield in those days as well, in L.A. venues
such as the Whisky a Go-Go. As fans of Hour Glass, Steven Stills
and Neil Young wrote the liner notes on the back of the Power
of Love album. The live shows that Hour Glass put on caused
quite a stir at the Whisky, yet the performances on the album
feel rigid. In spite of the enthusiasm for the band
spawned by their live shows, Hour Glass disbanded by the summer
of ‘68.

Following the breakup, Duane and Gregg recorded
some demos that September with future Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks
and his band called The 31st of February. The
band, who had already released an album earlier that year as a
trio featuring bassist David Brown and guitarist Scott Boyer,
was looking to change its image as a folk band and asked the
brothers to join them in the studio. The 31st of February
sessions produced an early version of “Melissa” that features
Duane on slide guitar for the first time on a recording. The
session was recorded at Tone studios in Hialeah, Fla., and
though never intended for release, was put out on album in 1973
by Bold Records as Duane and Greg Allman in order to
capitalize on the fame that the brothers had achieved. Soon
after the sessions, Gregg went back to L.A. to honor the
contract that Liberty Records had made with Hour Glass and
resumed working on a solo album that never saw the light of day. Duane
later followed suit and left Florida for Alabama and FAME
studios.

Sandlin and Carr also spent time in southern Florida, working
for a short stint as session players at Tone. Trucks had also
been a short-lived member of the Tone studios rhythm section,
backing a 14-year-old Betty Wright on her debut album,
My First Time Around. Sandlin and Carr joined the “Zoo”
rhythm section, named for the studio there at Tone, just after
Trucks left. They were joined by Bobby “Birdwatcher” Puccetti
(of the Miami band The Birdwatchers) on keyboards and David
Brown on bass (following the breakup of The 31st of February). In October ‘68, a single was released on Scott records by a
group called The New Rock Band, comprised members of the Zoo
rhythm section and an appearance by Duane. This ensemble
recorded the single “Rock Steady” at Tone featuring Duane’s
slide guitar, with the flip side an instrumental version spliced
from the session called “Little David”, named for Puccetti’s young son. The single was produced by Brad Shapiro
and was recorded before Duane left for Muscle Shoals. According
to Puccetti, these musicians, with the addition of Trucks,
Boyer and Gregg Allman had filled in as his backing band on
several club dates as well. The single was also released on
Laurie Records after some moderate success on local radio
stations in southern Florida.

Though reports vary as to whether Duane actually received a
letter from Rick Hall inviting him to FAME or if he just showed
up looking for work, Duane arrived in Muscle Shoals in late
November ’68. Duane worked on sessions for
Pickett’s Hey Jude album, Clarence Carter’s The
Dynamic Clarence Carter, and Arthur Conley’s More Sweet
Soul. Also in late ’68, Duane recorded one track, “Twice a
Man”, for an album by Barry Goldberg of Electric
Flag called Two Jews Blues. Goldberg recordings with
guitar icons Mike Bloomfield and Harvey Mandel were added to the
album as well. Duane and other members of the rhythm section
overdubbed their parts at the Quinvy studios, also in Muscle
Shoals, to the master tape that Goldberg had brought down with him.

Other than album sessions, many singles were recorded at FAME,
especially soul. Duane lent his guitar to a few of
them. “I Never Loved a Woman” by Spencer Wiggins (in response
to Franklin's “I Never Loved a Man" -- a real gem!) and James
Carr’s version of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”, were both
released on Goldwax. “A Lucky Loser” by Willie Walker was
released on Checker. Duane overdubbed on a few Laura Lee tracks as well, including the single “It’s How You make it
Good” which was released on Chess. This track and another
called “It Ain’t What You Do” also appear on Lee’s 1972
release, Love More Than Pride. Duane recorded with
Pickett on an Italian-language single meant to promote his
appearance at the 19th Festival of San Remo held in Italy in
January ‘69. The songs “Una Aventura” and “Amo Te (I’m in
Love)” were released by Atlantic in Italy and performed by
Pickett at the festival. In late ’68, Duane recorded a session
with a group called The Lovelles from which the songs “I’m Comin’
Today” and “Pretending Dear” were released. This female
ensemble was headed by soul singer Zulema Cusseaux and was
produced by blues artist Roy Lee Johnson for Atco Records.

In early ‘69, Duane joined forces with King Curtis
for Instant Groove. The song
“Games People Play” won a Grammy Award for best R&B instrumental
later that year. Guitar solos were overdubbed on top of
tracks previously recorded at the American Studios in Memphis. Duane also added some lead and rhythm guitar to The Soul
Survivors’ album Take another Look around this same
time. Duane, Curtis, and the FAME Gang worked on Aretha
Franklin’s This Girl’s in Love with You at the
Atlantic Recording Studios in New York as well. Duane is at his
backing best on the cuts “It Ain’t Fair” and “The Weight.” Duane may have played on a
B-side medley released from that
session called “Pledging My Love/The Clock” as well. In
February, he worked with Otis Rush for his
Mourning in the Morning, which was produced by Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites of Electric Flag. At these sessions, Bloomfield and
Duane had the opportunity to
play together in the studio, though Bloomfield did not actually
play on the album. Duane may have worked with other artists as
well, including Brook Benton, Lou Johnson, and the Sweet
Inspirations, who passed through the doors of FAME during
Duane’s tenure at the studio.

Through Wexler’s urging, Duane began work on a solo album at
FAME in February ‘69, at the same time that Gregg was finishing
his solo project back in L.A. Neither would ever come to
fruition, and not until years later were individual tracks
released on various compilations. A few songs from Duane’s
aborted solo effort have been released on the Allman Brothers Dreams box
set and the Duane Allman Anthology albums. Duane had
brought in Sandlin and Hornsby from Hour Glass for the
sessions and a new bass player, Berry Oakley, who would become
a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. Sandlin and
Hornsby, however, had grown weary of the “rock band” concept
after the Hour Glass debacle and decided to take jobs as
session musicians at the new Capricorn Studios in Macon. Duane
decided that whatever it was he was searching for wasn’t in
Muscle Shoals and returned to Florida with Oakley and a drummer
named Jaimoe to play with Oakley’s band, The Second Coming.
Dickey Betts already played guitar in The Second Coming, but the
pairing of dual lead guitars worked well. Trucks
eventually joined them as a drummer after the breakup of The
31st of February. Scott Boyer then formed Cowboy,
and David Brown went on to play with Boz Scaggs.

Liberty Records had had their eyes on Gregg during the
Hour Glass days and soon set to work on recording him as “Greg
Allman and the Hour Glass” with a new backing group. A pair of singles was released with little
fanfare. Merel Bregante and Larry Sims were featured on drums
and bass, moving from their recently dissolved band The Sunshine
Company to become part of Gregg’s new rhythm section. Hour
Glass and The Sunshine Company had both been managed by Bill
McEuen and were often booked together opening for bands such as
The
Doors and Grateful Dead. Gregg eventually abandoned the project, leaving California to join his brother in
Jacksonville. Sims and Bregante later joined Loggins
and Messina.

By March ‘69, Duane was under contract to Phil Walden and
Capricorn Records, free from the restrictions of Hall and
FAME. Rumor had it that Hall wasn’t too disappointed
since he didn't know quite
know what to do with him as a backing musician, and personally,
there had been friction between them. Duane exited FAME around
the same time as the rest of the rhythm section and never
recorded at Hall’s studio again. “Rick Hall had a
check in his pocket and a grin on his face,” Johnson said. “Actually, it was good for everybody.” By the end of
the month the legendary “Jacksonville Jam” took place at the
home of drummer Trucks, and The Allman Brothers Band was
born. However, this was not the end of Duane’s session work. In fact, Duane’s next sessions were held at the
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with his old friends down the road.

With a bit of financial backing by Atlantic VP Wexler, the
four core members of the FAME rhythm section (Beckett, Johnson,
Hawkins, and Hood) left Hall in order to form their own
studio, Muscle Shoals Sound. The
convoluted story suggests that Hall wasn’t too pleased with
Wexler, but the relationship
between the two men had been poor ever since the disastrous 1967
Aretha Franklin session at FAME, which ensured that she would
never again return to Muscle Shoals to record. Relations were
further strained when Wexler somewhat “underhandedly” used
FAME’s session players to finish up a Franklin session in New
York City, with Hall believing that his boys were there to
work on a King Curtis session. However, in reality, the rhythm section was ready to go out on its
own, with or without any assistance from Wexler.

Muscle Shoals Sound thrived immediately,
using the overflow of artists from FAME as well as the clients
that Wexler brought its way. Even after Wexler pulled his
business in favor of the renovated Criteria Studios in Miami
(where he would base most of Atlantic’s soul sessions), Muscle
Shoals Sound was able to bring in a steady roster of recording
acts. Stax had begun sending artists there as well.

By April 1, 1969, Muscle Shoals Sound was up and running, and
Cher was one of the first artists to record there. In fact, she
even named her album after the address of the newly formed
studio, calling it 3614 Jackson Highway. The Allman
Brothers Band was just a few weeks old at that point, and Duane
was able to help out the band by heading back to Muscle Shoals
to earn some extra money doing sessions. Eddie Hinton became the house lead guitarist, turning down an
invitation to join Duane’s new band in favor of the studio gig
and other projects. Walden’s newly formed company, Capricorn
Records, was based in Macon, Ga., and The Allman Brothers
Band soon relocated. While in Macon, Duane was able to lend his
guitar to sessions held there as well, even though Capricorn had
its own session musicians on hand. Sandlin, Carr, and Hornsby
had all relocated to Macon as well, becoming part of the
Capricorn rhythm section. Duane’s new band recorded demos there
that April in preparation for their first album. Members of The
Allman Brothers Band also backed blues artist and producer Roy
Lee Johnson at that time on sessions that have never been
released.

An early May session cut at Muscle Shoals Sound was
conceived by Sandlin and Hinton, called Duck and the Bear. Johnny “Duck” Sandlin and Eddie “Bear” Hinton invited Duane and
other friends to join them for a session that
would yield the single “Goin’ Up the Country”/“Hand Jive” on Atlantic
(the former
mislabeled “Goin’ Up to Country”). Hinton
had produced the Hour Glass sessions at FAME and had at one time
been a member of the Five Minutes but left to play sessions in Muscle Shoals and was succeeded by
Pete Carr. Only one single was released by the group, which also
featured Hornsby, Hood, and the Memphis Horns.

One of Duane’s most outstanding contributions as a session
player was on the Boz Scaggs album, the first American
release by the ex-Steve Miller band member. Also recorded at
Muscle Shoals Sound in early May, Duane delivers a searing
guitar solo to the song “Loan Me a Dime,” which takes up more
than half an album side, and adds his signature “bird calls” (a
precursor to “Layla”) to the end of the haunting “Finding Her.” Pictured on the inset of the album
(for his first time as a
session player) wearing nothing but a hat, Duane finally
received his due, getting first billing as “Skydog.” Pickett had given Duane the name “Skyman” at their first session
together, which, combined with his nickname “Dog”, quickly
evolved into “Skydog.” As a session player, Duane was
finally able to stretch out playing lead, slide and Dobro on
almost the entire album, thanks to producer Jann Wenner, editor
of Rolling Stone magazine, who brought Duane in for the project.
The first Piedmont Park show in Atlanta was held just after the
Scaggs sessions concluded May 11, one of many free
concerts given by The Allman Brothers Band at the park. This
show has been considered the “formal” debut of the band.

An Alabama group called The Bleus, fronted by singer Tony
Lumpkin, used Duane on three tracks that were released on
Amy-Bell records and produced by Hinton at Muscle Shoals Sound. “Julianna’s Gone” features Duane’s melodic slide work, while
“Leavin’ Lisa” captures him achieving a pedal steel effect by
manipulating the volume knob on his guitar with his pinky
finger. The flip side contains the track “Milk and Honey,” which
was also cut by Southern Comfort, the group that would later
record backing vocals for the Johnny Jenkins album produced by
Duane at Capricorn Studios.

Before Duane made Macon, Ga. his permanent residence, he
managed to leave his mark on one last project recorded at Muscle
Shoals Sound. Never released until 1995, the Coleman-Hinton
Project was shelved and all but forgotten until after Eddie
Hinton’s untimely death. Tippy Armstrong plays lead guitar on
the album, but one track called “What Goes On” captures Duane
strumming a Dobro behind a soprano sax solo by King Curtis. According
to Jim Coleman, Duane had recorded the demos for the
album but moved out of Muscle Shoals around the time of the
album’s production. He recorded on only one track for the album,
a performance that goes uncredited. Coleman and Allman had
been friends since the mid-60s when their respective groups
The Gents and The Allman Joys toured together. Coleman became a
songwriter in Muscle Shoals and briefly joined Hinton as a
recording act, but contractual disagreements prevented the
album’s release.

Duane was again on hand for the Franklin sessions for
Spirit in the Dark which were in New York in
late May. Some of the cuts remain unreleased. One track, called
“Takin’ Another Man’s Place” surfaced in 1986 on Atlantic Blues: Vocalists. The sessions
resulted in one of the finest albums of Franklin’s Atlantic
period and provide another example of Duane’s contribution to soul, a facet of his career rarely
mentioned. The Franklin sessions also
mark the continued collaborations between Duane and King
Curtis, who had become her official bandleader. Singer Percy
Sledge was also at the Atlantic Recording studios during the
Franklin sessions, and Duane suggested that he cut the Buffalo
Springfield song “Kind Woman,” later released as a
single. While in New York, Duane worked on demos with producer
and recording artist John Simon for John Simon’s Album,
which was completed later in Muscle Shoals with Eddie Hinton on
guitar. None of Duane’s work was included on the album. Duane
had been referred to Simon by The Band’s Robbie Robertson. Due to prior
commitments Duane was unable to complete the project.

The Allman Brothers Band cut their first album in
early September ‘69 at Atlantic Studios in New York. Adrian
Barber producing. Duane’s guitar playing had
evolved immensely since the days of The Allman Joys, and along
with a new band came a new sound. Duane may have felt confined
working purely as a studio musician, but the lessons learned
were invaluable. He could not only play slide and lead as a driving
force, but also learned how to back
off and weave delicate rhythms throughout the solos of his bandmates. Duane had already established a name for himself in
Southern musicians’ circles and did not intend to give up the
role of sideman altogether, in spite of having a new band. The album was not an overnight
success.

For the Ronnie Hawkins album, his next session project,
Duane made an appearance in Muscle Shoals to record live in the
studio with his old FAME buddies. The album was produced by
Wexler and Dowd. The song “Down in the Alley” was released as a
single, and had previously been a hit for the Clovers. A
brief interview with John Lennon was released as a B-side of
some pressings of the “Down in the Alley” single on the
Cotillion label, documenting Lennon’s reaction to hearing the
song during a brief stay at Hawkins’ home near Toronto in
December ‘69. A slightly longer version of the “rap” with Lennon was released
as a Cotillion single as well.

In early October, Duane appeared at Criteria Studios
to work on yet another Franklin session. Duane
reportedly plays acoustic guitar behind Franklin on her
composition “Pullin” at this session, though he claimed to have
been there only as an observer. Other songs were recorded as
well in order to complete Spirit in the Dark and
This Girl’s In Love with You, both released in
1970. Duane also worked on an album by Scottish pop star Lulu
called New Routes, which includes a song written by
Delaney Bramlett and Mac Davis called “Dirty Old Man”. Duane
had yet to work with Delaney, but before long, they would become
close friends. The majority of New Routes was recorded in
September 1969 at Muscle Shoals Sound, but Duane overdubbed his
parts at Criteria Studios slightly before the October Franklin
sessions. The following month, Duane played slide on "Everlovin'
Ways" for Judy Mayhan's album Moments and played on John
Hammond's Southern Fried album. These Muscle Shoals Sound
sessions were produced by Marlin Greene. Hammond and Allman
formed a friendship that endured for the next, and last, two
years of Duane's life. Duane visited Hammond in New York City
just days prior to his death. The two discussed the possibility
of doing an acoustic album together which, unfortunately, never
happened.

Duane’s next studio project was for Johnny Jenkins’ Ton Ton
Macoute!, on which he receives production credits as well. The sessions took place at Capricorn Studios, beginning with a couple of tracks recycled from Duane’s
unfinished solo effort from his FAME days. Jenkins had been
responsible for bringing Otis Redding to Stax, and it was as
frontman in Jenkins’s band, The Pinetoppers, that Redding
initially gained notoriety. Phil Walden managed Redding until his
death in December 1967, a little over a year before he became
Duane’s manager. Interesting to note, Jaimoe had played briefly in
Redding’s band a couple years before and was introduced to Duane
in Muscle Shoals through Walden. Band members Trucks,
Oakley, and Jaimo all participate on the album. The Capricorn
Studio rhythm section plays it real “swampy” on this album,
which includes all of the former Hour Glass members except for
Gregg. The CD version has two bonus tracks; others remain
unreleased.

Also required listening for any soul music fan is Doris Duke’s
underground classic I’m a Loser, rated as one of
the all time best soul albums by Mojo magazine. According to
Paul Hornsby, the album was “done quick, down and dirty”. Duane
contributed guitar to a few tracks
recorded at Capricorn Studios in Macon. The album was produced
and the songs written by Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams sometime in
1969. The song “To the Other Woman, I’m the Other Woman” was
nominated for a Grammy Award in 1970.

The Allman Brothers went back into the studio in Macon to begin
work on their second album, Idlewild South, in early ‘70. More
sessions were recorded in Miami that
summer. The Tom Dowd production was completed with one final
session at Regent Studios in New York City for
“Please Call Home.” However, between these sessions and the
constant touring, Duane did manage to pop in at Capricorn
Studios for impromptu appearances on a few projects, including
the Irma Thomas album titled In Between Tears, which was
not released until 1973. The album was
another “Swamp Dogg” production and features Duane and Pete
Carr’s dueling guitars backing Thomas on a 12-minute rap that climaxes in an updated version of her earlier hit “Wish
Someone Would Care.” Duane also backs soul singer Ella Brown
on a series of singles. “Touch Me”
and “A Woman Left Lonely” were produced by Brown's husband,
Capricorn songwriter and recording artist Jacky Avery, and were
released on the Lanor label. According to Avery, another single
was produced by Duane and released on Adams Records in very
limited quantities. The result of a “moonlight session” at
Capricorn studios, the single containing “Frankie and Johnny”
and “I Love You Baby” is a rare find. An Adams single
containing the song “Hey Boy” was produced by Tony Dorsey and
also showcases Duane on guitar. Brown later went on to join the
band Wet Willie as a vocalist.

In the spring of ‘70, Duane joined Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett
at Criteria Studios for what would become the To Bonnie from
Delaney album. Delaney had asked Wexler about getting
Ry Cooder to play slide guitar, but Wexler
suggested Duane Allman instead. This project brought together
King Curtis, Duane, and Delaney, a trio whose
friendship grew very strong over the next year and a
half. Although Delaney had not known Duane prior to the
sessions, Bonnie had known him and his brother well since The Allman
Joys days, having shared the stage with them at various venues
in and around the St. Louis area, her old stomping grounds. A
sudden appearance by Little Richard at Criteria resulted in the
track “Miss Ann”, a jam on which Delaney later added vocals and
edited down. Delaney also decided to
add an acoustic jam that he, Bonnie, and Duane had recorded
after the Criteria sessions. The “Come on in my Kitchen:
Medley” is a true high point on the album, featuring Duane’s
unmistakable Dobro.

In late June, Duane worked again with Ronnie Hawkins, this time
for his album The Hawk. Duane plays Dobro, lead and
rhythm guitar on this Cotillion release. Overall, the second
collaboration by Hawkins and Allman is more cohesive than the first, with Duane energetically trading licks with
Charlie Freeman of The Dixie Flyers. After completing the
Hawkins sessions at Criteria, Duane braved traffic for an
appearance with his own band at the Atlanta International Pop
Festival in Byron, Ga.,
July 3. He nearly missed the engagement but was
able to hop on the back of a motorcycle and maneuver his way through the
traffic to get there just in time.

From late August to early September, Duane worked with Eric
Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, and Jim Gordon on Layla and other AssortedLove Songs,
which would be credited to Derek and the Dominos. Enough has been written about
the making of Layla over the years, as it remains one of the
best guitar albums ever made. A 20th anniversary edition
was released in 1990 in a three-CD set complete with studio jams
and alternate takes and contains a booklet that does a good job
relating how Duane got involved. Duane did join The Dominos on at least one live show held at
Curtis Nixon Hall in Tampa, Fla., Dec. 1, 1970, and
possibly on other dates as well. A bootleg of the
Tampa show has been in circulation as well as a few
photographs. Coincidentally, all of the members of Derek and the
Dominos had been members of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
prior to recording Layla.

Duane also helped out Sam Samudio (Sam the Sham) in Miami for
his album Hard and Heavy, which again features the Dixie
Flyers, the Criteria house band put together by Jim Dickinson
and Wexler for studio sessions. By then,
Duane had become an honorary Flyer of sorts, on his frequent
trips to Criteria. The last Samudio session coincided with a
final visit to Criteria by Clapton and Allman together as
“Dominos” in early October. The two guitarists recorded the
acoustic “Mean Old World” jams that day, featured on the Dominos
box set, joined by a previously uncredited Dickinson on piano. With Samudio, Duane also recorded an acoustic version of “Me and
Bobbie McGee” closer to the Kris Kristofferson original than Janis
Joplin’s version. It was released as a non-album single but
pulled soon after Joplin’s version was released. Back in New
York, Duane recorded the title track for an album by Laura Nyro
called Christmas and the Beads of Sweat that was somehow
overlooked for either volume of the Duane Allman
Anthology albums.

By 1971, the members of The Allman Brothers Band had less free
time than ever. They had been touring constantly for months,
but it seemed that whenever the band had a break, Duane found
time to record or play somewhere with somebody. At this point,
it was less about the money and more about jamming with people
who interested him. In January, Duane found time to join
friends Delaney & Bonnie for the acoustic Motel Shot
album, which features appearances by Gram Parsons and Joe
Cocker, among others. In March, Duane joined the duo for
another session on the West Coast for tracks that wouldn’t be
released until ‘72 on the D&B Together album. Earlier
D&B recordings with Clapton and Dave Mason were added to the
album as well. Duane would occasionally join the act on stage,
sometimes with Gregg.

Shortly after playing the final Fillmore concert on June 27,
1971, Duane was back at Atlantic Recording Studios with Herbie
Mann working on his Push Push album. Duane had been
playing a concert with Delaney & Bonnie in Central Park
when Mann, unannounced, joined them for an encore. Mann lived in nearby Central Park South and
could
hear the concert from his balcony. Allowed on the stage by
security, Mann was playing flute alongside Delaney, Bonnie, and
Duane before they even knew he was there. After the show,
Mann asked Duane if he would play guitar on his
forthcoming album, and since Duane knew he would be in New York
mixing The Allman Brothers Band at the Fillmore East
album, he agreed. The CD version contains the bonus track
“Funky Nassau”, not included on the original album.

Duane was also involved in a couple of live radio broadcasts that
summer at the A&R studios in New York. On July 22,
Duane, Gregg, and King Curtis joined Delaney & Bonnie & Friends for
electric and acoustic sets for WPLJ. Duane paid an
emotionally charged tribute to Curtis a few weeks later during
The Allman Brothers Band’s August 26 broadcast from A&R, with his version
of Curtis’ “Soul Serenade”, less than two weeks after the death
of one of his closest friends. Bootlegs of both
concerts are readily available. Curtis had just wrapped up
production on a solo album by Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave fame),
when he was murdered outside his New York City apartment
building. The project was shelved and forgotten until 2002,
when it was finally released under the title Plenty Good Lovin’.

Duane’s last sessions were for Cowboy’s album 5’ll Getcha
Ten on which he recorded a beautiful Dobro accompaniment to
“Please Be with Me.” Two takes were
released, one on the original album and the other on Duane
Allman AnAnthology. Cowboy was another Capricorn
act that featured Scott Boyer, Duane’s old friend from The 31st
of February days. The session took place late that summer at
Muscle Shoals Sound. Duane’s final recordings were with The
Allman Brothers Band for Eat aPeach,
recorded in Miami at Criteria by Dowd. “Little Martha”,
“Blue Sky”, and “Stand Back” were the last three songs he
recorded in the final weeks of his life in September and October
‘71. Some other recordings from the March
Fillmore East shows were added to the final product so that
Duane was represented on three sides of the two-record set.
Duane had almost reached his 25th birthday when a motorcycle
accident took his life on Oct. 29, 1971. Duane Allman An
Anthology volumes one and two were released in 1972 and
1974, which highlight some of Duane’s studio work in addition to
a few performances with The Allman Brothers Band.

In my never-ending search for “lost” Duane Allman recordings, I
stumbled upon a copy of First Peace by Bobby Lance. The
album was released in 1971 on Cotillion Records, recorded at
Muscle Shoals Sound, and touts among its musicians Hinton,
Hood, Hawkins, and Beckett with guest appearances by King Curtis
and The Sweet Inspirations. One cut, “More than Enough Rain”,
stands head and shoulders above the rest, with a blistering
electric slide solo that is very much in the style of Duane
Allman, quite possibly Duane himself. On the album jacket the
slide guitar is credited to Eddie Hinton, but I tracked down
Lance in New York City to verify. Lance said he has often been asked this question
and has been unable to either confirm or deny the rumors. Lance
went down to Criteria to overdub vocals
to the rhythm tracks, using the same studio in the morning that
The
Dominos were using later in the day for Layla. Though Lance had been producing his own album, engineer
Dowd offered to remix a couple of songs with which he was
not altogether satisfied. According to Lance, Dowd most likely
took advantage of Duane's availability and could easily have overdubbed Duane on guitar to create the
brilliant interplay between Curtis’ sax solos and the searing
slide solos. Lance left Miami after recording his vocal parts
and left Dowd in charge of the remix. Lance’s relationship with
Atlantic deteriorated soon after. After one more album, Lance left Atlantic and the recording business, disillusioned by
the company’s lackluster promotion of his albums due to the
preexisting contractual agreements he had with Motown as a
songwriter. However, he considers the two Atlantic albums “the
best damn albums you’ve never heard” and enthusiastically
recalls sharing a hotel, among other things, with Clapton and
Allman, late in the summer of 1970.